Pilot · 409th Squadron · Of Frankfort, NY.
Flew to England July 1943 on the unescorted Queen Elizabeth; assigned as Pilot of Crew #15, 93rd Bomb Group, 409th Sqdn. Crew #15 was rushed to Libya via ATC and placed on Detached Service with 345th Sqdn., 98th Bomb Group at Benghazi. On Aug. 1, 1943 (Ploesti mission), flew as co-pilot with pilot Lt. Blevins in Snake Eyes. Colonel Kane led the mission. Crippled by flak, Snake Eyes was forced to land at an RAF fighter strip in Syracuse, Sicily after a 13-hour-24-minute mission; a flat tire and no flaps caused the plane to pile up on a stone wall. All participants received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Returned to England; reported to 93rd Bomb Group, 409th Sqdn. and finished his 28th mission in April 1944.
He and his crew landed at Benghazi on 25 July 1943; Col. Wogan of 9th Bomber Command put them on detached service with the 98th's 345th Squadron. On 29 July 1943 he flew an oil-consumption test in B-24 654 Kate Smith. His assigned copilot feathered the wrong engine on takeoff, then the other; on the emergency landing the left tire blew and the left gear collapsed.
The missions below are those we have been able to document for this airman, drawn from flight logs, mission records, and archival sources. It is not necessarily a complete account of every mission flown; gaps may reflect missing documentation, transferred assignments, or records lost to time.
Born May 19, 1919 in Frankfort, NY. Enlisted Dec. 10, 1940. Went to Oahu, TH April 1941; served in Co. A, 3rd Engineers at Schofield Barracks. Applied for Air Corps pilot training. Pilot training Class 43-A at Santa Ana, Hemet, Bakersfield, and Roswell. Appointed Flight Officer. B-24 training at Davis Monthan and Biggs Field.
After completing missions, served with 448th Bomb Group as training officer under Col. Gerry Mason; flew one additional mission (29th) to France after D-Day. Returned to States to instruct at Liberal, KS. Opted out on points July 1945. Married Jean in 1951; worked as industrial photographer. Earned BA in education (Syracuse University) and MA (State University, Albany, NY). Coordinator of social studies at South Colonie School System. Retired 1980. Amateur radio operator (ham) N2DGE, QTH Schenectady, NY. Visited Ploesti, Romania on Aug. 1, 1993, stood at the final IP, Floresti, 50 years later.
Articles, columns, and letters naming this airman in the 2nd Air Division Association journals and the group’s own newsletters. The summaries below are ours; the pieces themselves belong to the writers and publications that produced them.
Before joining the 93rd, Flight Officer O'Grady was on detached service with the 98th in Libya: a blown tire on Kate Smith, then Ploesti as copilot on 1 August 1943.
Original documents behind what this page says about this airman — reports, records, and histories the archive holds and is free to reproduce. Check the sources for yourself.